Twenty high school students from Hawaii remained quarantined in South Korea last night pending the results of tests to determine whether they have the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.

Five of the students were found to have elevated temperatures when their flight landed Monday at Seoul Inchon Airport. South Korea performs temperature scans on incoming airline passengers as a precaution to guard against the spread of the H1N1 virus.

The students are on a study tour organized by the Honolulu-based Pacific and Asian Affairs Council. The group departed Honolulu Sunday and is scheduled to return July 5.

Ruth Limtiaco, Pacific and Asian Affairs Council board member and spokeswoman, said last night that the five students were discovered during the screening to have a "slightly elevated temperature" of around 100 degrees.

"And those five were separated and quarantined at the airport and later transferred to what they call a national hospital near Seoul," Limtiaco said.

"The remaining 15 students are in a hotel in Seoul where they are also in quarantine until they get the blood test results back on the other five.

"And now we are all awaiting the results of these tests."

Limtiaco said all the students had been in contact with their parents and were doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances. She added that the U.S. Embassy in Seoul is involved and monitoring the situation, and assisting the chaperones.

Contacted last night, Hawaii time, the Korean Health Ministry referred questions about the test results to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. The person reached at the embassy said she was not authorized to comment.

Richard Gima, 16, of Lana'i City, said last night that he has been in contact with a friend who is one of the students quarantined in Seoul. Gima said the friend told him that some of the other students have been hospitalized.

"I've been following their whole trip because my best friend, she's part of the Korean group," said Gima, who was one of the PAAC students with last year's summer tour to China and Taiwan. "She basically told me through AOL Instant Messenger there were students in the hospital, and she wasn't one of them."

His friend, also from Lana'i, said she and the others who were not hospitalized are being quarantined in a hotel.

EVERYONE SCREENED

"They're going to four cities in South Korea, and based on the quarantine, they've missed the first couple of days already," Gima said. "So, I don't know what they're going to do.

"It takes so much time to plan this. Last year when we got back, they started planning for next year's summer tour. This is really going to jam them up because of all the hotel reservations and all the flights.

"I really feel sorry for them."

The affected students all had temperatures in the range of 100 degrees, detected at the Seoul airport where all passengers are screened via thermal scans, according to an e-mailed statement from the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council in response to questions from The Advertiser.

The students who showed elevated temperatures are being quarantined at the National Hospital in Seoul while they await the results of blood tests.

The remaining students and their four chaperones are quarantined in their Seoul hotel until the test results come in, according to the statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul yesterday released a statement affirming that they are available to provide assistance including "helping Americans communicate with family and friends, monitoring quarantine conditions as permitted by local health authorities, arranging for transfers of funds or granting temporary subsistence loans, and providing information regarding the availability of medical care."

Janice Okubo, state Department of Health spokeswoman, said such tests usually take 24 to 48 hours to complete.

"Hopefully, the students will test negatively and will be able to resume their trip," Okubo said. "If they test positive, the guidance we have in the U.S., and what we use in Hawaii, is we ask visitors to self-isolate for seven days, or a day after all their symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer.

"In Hawaii, we ask people to voluntarily comply. We had very good results by asking people to self-isolate. It sounds like Korea has a mandatory compliance. But, that's their decision to do that," Okubo said. "We do not use a thermal scan in Hawaii in airports. Part of the reason is because it's not completely accurate — it can be off by a certain number of degrees."

87 U.S. DEATHS

To date, South Korea has had 105 confirmed cases of H1N1 virus, and no reported deaths from the illness commonly known as swine flu, Okubo said.

That compares with 298 total cases in Hawaii since May 5, with no deaths or hospitalizations.

A total of 21,449 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in all U.S. states and territories since the outbreak began, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 87 deaths from that total, the CDC reported.

Because Hawaii has had no serious incidences of swine flu, the H1N1 virus alert here has been treated more or less as ordinary seasonal flu. Such cases of flu in the state can occur year around, Okubo said.

Okubo said the incident in South Korea highlights the need for people to take health concerns into consideration if they are traveling.

"People who are planning to travel, if they are not feeling well or are ill, or if they have been exposed to someone who has been ill, should really rethink their travel — particularly if they are going to an international destination."

Even though it is inconvenient, it's best to change your travel plans if you are not feeling well, the Health Department spokeswoman said.

All of the students are from public schools, and were selected for the free study program organized annually by the PAAC.

CERTIFIED TO TRAVEL

It is anticipated that the students will be able to resume their study tour after the blood tests are received, as they were certified to travel by their physicians before departure, according to the PAAC statement.

Each year, 20 public school students receive full scholarships to experience two weeks in Asia, organized by the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council.